Joined At the Hip: Pinetop Perkins & Willie Big Eyes Smith

On 2010’s *Joined At the Hip*, two veterans of Muddy Waters’ band team up for a set of classic blues. The legendary Pinetop Perkins, who was born in 1913, originally was a guitarist before switching to piano; Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, who was born in 1936, started out on harmonica, but eventually switched to drums, the instrument he played in Waters’ group. On *Hip* he handles most of the vocals and adds his juicy harp, leaving his son, Kenny, to hold down the drum seat. (The venerable pair is also backed by two guitarists, John Primer and “Little Frank” Krakowski, and bassist Bob Stroger.) The album offers something that has become increasingly rare — old-school electric blues with its distinctive rhythmic feel and sense of phrasing. Smith’s vocals charm with their energy and swagger, and Perkins sings lead on a couple of tracks, “Grindin’ Man” and “Take My Hand, Precious Lord.” Typically, when older bluesmen record new albums, they draw on older material, but Smith wrote some new songs for this one. “You’d Better Slow Down,” with its catchy backup vocals, should put a smile on anyone’s face.